MARTINS FERRY — Belmont County Treasurer Katherine Kelich started the foreclosure process on East Ohio Regional Hospital, which failed to make the second $33,732.14 installment of its plan to pay off $1.2 million in delinquent property taxes.

The March 20 closure of the hospital left hundreds of employees without jobs, and many of them have not received all of the wages and benefits they are owed.

Kelich said EORH Chief Financial Officer Julie Ross reached out on the due date, April 30, inquiring if the hospital could make a partial payment or whether another arrangement could be made. Kelich informed Ross that an alternative plan is no longer a possibility, since the hospital broke its payment contract. Unless the hospital pays in full, the property will be foreclosed upon — a process that could take six to 12 months.

“There’s no way to fast track this, nor do we want to fast track this. We would want to dot all of our I’s and cross all of our T’s to make sure that whatever we do is true and accurate,” Kelich said.

Hospital leadership and Kelich agreed on the 36-month payment plan after a long period of no contact from the hospital.

The city of Martins Ferry footed the first bill in April, pulling from a fund of $90,000 established as part of a 2018 agreement in which the city committed to refunding 75% of the city income taxes paid by hospital employees to the hospital when it completed capital improvements.

Kelich said Martins Ferry Mayor John Davies reached out to her on the second due date and told her he supported the foreclosure process on the building being started.

On Friday evening, Davies said via phone that he is in favor of the county beginning that effort, citing the fact that he is aware of potential buyers for the facility.

“With (owner) Dr. (John) Johnson’s reputation of foregoing payment, I think the process needs to be pushed along,” Davies said. “… It’s obvious he needs to be forced to do something. He won’t do it on his own.”

Davies acknowledged that the closure of the hospital was a big disappointment for city leaders and area residents alike. The facility previously closed in 2019, when then-owner Alecto Healthcare Services shut it down along with sister facility Ohio Valley Medical Center in Wheeling. OVMC has since been demolished.

Johnson, a psychiatrist who owns and operates other medical facilities, purchased EORH in spring 2020 and reopened it in February 2021, bringing hope that it would remain a viable health care provider for years to come.

Davies noted that the reason the city made the initial payment to the county treasurer was so that city leaders could be certain that the money went to begin paying down the hospital’s debt.

“We used their money to pay their bills,” Davies stressed.

According to Kelich, the first step toward foreclosure will be identifying lien holders on the property. After the foreclosure process concludes, the property will be available for purchase in a public auction conducted by the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department.

The starting bid will include all taxes, fees and special assessments associated with the sale. That number could also include property taxes for the second half of this year, as well as first-half taxes for next year, depending on the timeline.

“We’re hopeful that someone will acquire this property that will be able to reopen it as a hospital or medical facility and bring some life back to that hospital that is right now in the dark,” Kelich said.

Many former employees of the now-closed hospital have signed on to a class action lawsuit against EORH, filed jointly by Moundsville firm Gold, Khourey and Turak and Columbus-based firm Barkan Meizlish DeRose Cox.

The lawsuit claims that hospital Chief Executive Officer John Johnson did not provide the required 60-day Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice to employees that the facility would be closing and seeks to ensure that former employees get the wages, benefits and paid time off that they are owed.

Ross did not immediately respond to a request for comment.